La musica d’italiano

Italy is one of Europe’s great beauties ensconced near the Mediterranean coastline and endowed with nature-inspired beauty with ranging landscapes from mountains, valleys, forests and beaches, and a clement weather. She is famous for her architecture, arts, cuisine, exquisite tourist attractions, etc.

As one of the worlds’s manufacturing powers, she cannot be ignored. How possible is it to overlook a passing Lamborghini, or Ferrari or Maserati or Alfa Romeo? I told you! Italy has high stakes in the world of high fashion or “haute couture” as the French would say. Many luxurious goods are products of this warm country.

Musically, apart from her contribution to the development of European classical music, the opera which is a component of the aforementioned is an Italian cultural marker. One of the most significant marker of music theory is the fact that musical terminologies are codified in the Italian language. This is predicated on the Italian composers having been the original users of music notation accompanied by annotations to their scores. This music tradition was accepted and adopted by other European nations, and has remained unchanged.

So, if you are a student of music, simultaneously learning the Italian language, it should be unsurprising to find that the Italian vocabulary appears repeatedly in your music lessons. Words like adagio (slow), allegro (fast), alto (high), basso (low), crescendo (gradually louder), dolce (sweetly), forte (loud), legato (connected), piano (soft), poco a poco (little by little), solo (one player), staccato (detached), tempo (time) , tutti (everyone), etc. Some of these words have percolated into the English language lexicon.

And while the opera may seem exclusive and targeted towards a selected listenership, several of Italy’s operatic tenors are not unfamiliar within the popular music space like Luciano Pavarotti and Andrea Bocelli, who have enjoyed a crossover appeal.

It also bears mentioning that in popular music, Italy has also contributed her quota through the person of Giorgio Moroder, composer and music producer. He is one of the pioneers of euro disco and electronic dance music. As the founder of the famous Casablanca Records, he helped in the crafting of many Donna Summer hits in the 1970s. He has also worked with Queen, Elton John, The Rolling Stones, etc.

This post draws attention to some of Italy’s mainstream music artists. Enjoy!

1. Adriano Celentano. "Azzurro" [Blue] Azzurro/Una carezza in un pugno (1968).

2. Allesandra Amoroso. "La mia storia con te" [My history with you] Il mondo in un secondo (2010).

3. Andrea Bocelli. "Vivo Per Lei" [I live for you] The Best of Andrea Bocelli- Vivere (2007).

4. Domenico Modugno. "Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu)" [Fly- in the blue the painted blue] Sarenmo Festival winner song (1958).

5. Eros Luciano Ramazzotti. "Io Amero" [I will love] Dove C'è Musica (1996).

6. Fedez. "Cigno Nero" [Black Swan] Sig. Brainwash - L'arte di accontentare (2013).

7. Giorgia. "Senza Segreti" [Without Secrets] Giorgia (1994).

8. Laura Pausini. "La solitudine" [Loneliness] Laura Pausini (1993).

9. Luciano Ligabue. "Certe notti" [Certain Nights] Buon compleanno Elvis! (1995).

10. Luciano Pavarotti. "Nessun Dorma" [No one sleeps] The Essential Pavarotti - A Selection Of His Greatest Recordings (1973).

11. Mina. "Nessuno" [Nobody] Tintarella di luna (1960).

12. Patty Pravo. "La bambola" [Doll] Patty Pravo (1968).

13. Toto Cutugno. "L'italiano" [The Italian] L’italiano (1983).

14. Vasco Rossi. "Come stai" [How are you?] Buoni o cattivi (2004).

15. Zucchero Fornaciari."Voodoo Voodoo" Spirito DiVino (1995).

    DISCLAIMER: No copyright infringement intended. The songs serve both entertainment and enlightenment purposes.